How You Should Handle a Client’s Rebooking Decisions

To Rebook or Not To Rebook: 

How Every Beauty Pro Should Handle a Client’s Rebooking Decision

Don’t get us wrong, there’s something so fun about the wild-wild West world of cosmetology that much of the corporate world simply can’t rival with, but that doesn’t mean we don’t love a little bit of consistency, right?

As a cosmetologist, the biggest goal is to be busy doing things you like for clients you care about—and typically, the success rate of that has an awful lot to do with the amount of rebooking you’re able to accomplish.

While there’s so much you can control when it comes to a client’s decisions to rebook, there’s ultimate never complete control—and that’s something we need to learn to let go of. But that doesn’t mean we can’t take these circumstances and learn from them!

That’s what we’re here to unpack today. So, let’s do this thing—read on to break down what each of these rebooking decisions could mean for your as a cosmetologist, and more importantly, what you can learn from a client’s decision to rebook or not to rebook.

Rebooking & What it Means For You

There’s nothing quite like that moment when a client says hell yeah to a rebook with you. In fact, we think it calls for a happy dance, and if you want to take this moment to practice yours, we say more power to you.

But once the happy dance segment of this blog is over, let’s get real—getting a client to rebook is tough!

There are so many factors at hand here:

• The experience
• Timing
• Price
• Performance
• Satisfaction
• Personality
• Environment

The list goes on forever, friends.

But rebooking awesome for lots of reasons. Not only does it mean that you can potentially move your client from a “new client” to a “regulars” list, but it also means some guaranteed income is coming your way soon! 

Rebooking with your clients is a badass thing because it means that you’ll have a guaranteed appointment in a few weeks—that’s awesome, right?

Imagine if you could do with every client you have every single month—that’s like, all the business you could handle, right? With that kind of schedule, you likely wouldn’t even have to try to find new clients—unless you wanted to, of course.

Want our advice on how to make the rebooking process simple and painless?

We got you:

• Invest in a great, automated booking system so this process is never messy or confusing.
• Create an undeniably great reward program to incentivize clients to keep up with their appointments.
• Work on developing open dialogue and solid relationships with your clients—that way, you’ll be able to better understand why they book with you and not someone else. Then, you can keep that up and make changes where necessary.

What to Do When a Client Chooses to NOT Rebook

The first thing you should do when a client opts out of rebooking? Don’t panic.

Why? Because no matter how skilled you are, no matter how hard you crushed the cut, and no matter how many extra miles you went for a client, sometimes they’re just not going to rebook. It just happens and that’s all there is to it. In fact, it’s totally likely a client’s choice to not rebook has little to do with you.

Still, that doesn’t mean you can’t learn from this scenario. No matter why a client opts out of rebooking, you should always choose to look at that appointment for reflection, evaluation, and analysis. Think about it as one of the most valuable learning opportunities ever!

Here’s what we’d do if a client didn’t rebook with us:

• First things first, don’t dwell—it doesn’t help! Take the time to evaluate the entire appointment and try to identify what might not have gone as planned.
• Consult with a coworker, boss, or colleague—and be honest how you relay the information. Leaving anything out might skew your learning opportunity.
• If a client doesn’t want to work with you, let them make that decision. Obviously, following up in a professional way is fine! Especially if perhaps they’ve changed their mind. But don’t chase down a client who doesn’t want to come back in—that’s a waste of your time and resources.

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